Tag: physiology

The science of flirting

There may be, as Paul Simon wrote, 50 ways to leave your lover, recent research has discovered there are even more ways to attract one–52, to be exact. That’s according to Dr. Monica Moore, an associate professor at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, who recently undertook the first serious study of the science of …

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A shortage of sleep

Are you feeling sleepy? If you are, you might think it’s the busy time of the year, but sleepiness isn’t limited to the holidays. According to scientists, around two thirds of North Americans are sleep-deprived all the time. Over the past century the average amount of sleep people get has shrunk by more than 20 …

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Migraines

  Few afflictions are more common than headaches. Statistics (themselves the cause of many headaches) show that in the U.S., up to 50 million people go to the doctor for headaches annually. Among headaches, however, migraines hold a special place. The pounding pain can last for hours or even days. Movement makes it worse. Nausea …

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The chemistry of love

Men have always suspected it, but now there’s scientific evidence: chocolate makes females more interested in sex. OK, so maybe that’s oversimplifying. What the study announced just before Valentine’s Day (appropriately enough) really said was that a “messenger protein” called DARPP-32 makes female rodents more interested in sex. But even the study’s lead author, Dr. …

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Bad hair

Toques are lovely devices for keeping one’s head warm, but they have a very unfortunate effect on hair. Those who complain of “bad hair days” in warmer climes will never truly understand bad hair until they’ve worn a tuque all day and pulled it off just before going in for a job interview. There’s more …

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Crying

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who cry at movies and those who don’t. I freely admit I’m one of the former. I even cry during TV sitcoms. Heck, sometimes I even cry during commercials (only the really good ones, though). Just why some people cry more easily than others isn’t …

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Einstein’s brain

Albert Einstein, the 20th century’s best-known scientist, revolutionized the way we think about the universe. This week, he was back in the news–or at least, part of him was. When Einstein died on April 17, 1955, he left his wishes that an acquaintance perform the autopsy and his body then be cremated. The acquaintance didn’t …

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Arthritis

I’ve probably thought more about arthritis over the years than most guys my age, because my Mom has had rheumatoid arthritis since before I was born. This week I’ve been thinking about it more than usual, though, for two reasons: one, I’m writing a book on the subject and two, a new arthritis drug has …

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Stem cells

  Imagine being able to grow any kind of human tissue in the laboratory and using it to replace the damaged cells of someone suffering from diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or muscular dystrophy. Within a decade or two that science fictional dream could be reality, thanks to a breakthrough last week that scientists have …

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Transplants

A few years ago in Weyburn I had a role in a play called “Duet for Two Hands.” It was a grim little gothic tale of a drunken Scottish surgeon (that would be me) who had sewed the hands of a convicted murderer onto the wrists of a concert pianist who had lost his own …

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High-altitude physiology

It’s called the Death Zone: the region on Mt. Everest above 25,000 feet where the risk of dying is highest. Those risks include hypothermia and frostbite, but the greatest risk of all would exist even if the top of the mountain were as balmy as the Bahamas: high-altitude sickness. Human beings evolved as sea level, …

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Pheremones

So, you think your emotional and physical responses are under your conscious control, that you only get mad or feel happy for good, logical reasons? Think again. You could be being led around by your own nose. I’ve written before about how the smell of baking bread can transport you to your grandmother’s kitchen, or …

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